Eduwiges of Faldham stormed out of the greathouse of Tol Lochul and slammed the large doors behind her with a clash. She took the marble steps down two at a time and stomped with a bow legged gait down to the seawall. The constant bickering with Daedre, her rescued mother, was beginning to take its toll on her along with the seeming tension floating in the house like a meandering creek clashing with rocks in the stream bed. Eduwiges was a woman of action. The agony of waiting to hear news from the Fornost expedition was frustrating to say the least. Xandilif, Finchley and the tagalongs led by the mercurial Catalinna were in mortal danger and the lack of news was maddening. She was also frustrated thinking of her real father in slavery to Angmar. Edu had felt the trauma and the guilt of not being there when the father who raised her, Alfara, was murdered by the cult of the blood eye. At least she could do something for her natural one to expunge the shame of her survivor’s guilt.
Eduwiges looked out over the water as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. The waves lapped over seawall rocks with gentle, rhythmic splashes that began to take the sting of her frustration away. The gulls cried lonesomely overhead as they circled the fishing boats coming in from a long day’s toil. The fishermen had other things on their minds than feeding them today and leaned on the rails watching the shore come closer. One of them waved as they passed the docks. Eduwiges smiled and waved back but her mind was on Angmar where her father was held. ‘It always comes back to Angmar,’ she thought to herself. The last place any of them wished to go.
Eduwiges was also bored. This long sojourn at the house was beginning to grate on her nerves. Between Daedre’s constant need for attention and her frosty attitude and Xanderian and Calidis always having their private meetings she felt she might as well be alone. The elf, Nimlindir was always tied up with the trees and not much of a conversationalist. Even the wenching and drinking had begun to pale. Edu, privately, had begun to train harder with her weapons, Baedu Druit, the greatsword and Morinehtar the longsword. She was working out her left hand so she might fight just as capable as she did with her right. Edu had never taken the time to actually train that way; she had a natural gift so she did not bother. Glorfindal and the Nighttorn in Imladris had tried to get her to do it, and Xandilif pounded her head against the wall arguing with her about it. Well, now she was doing it. More out of frustration and boredom than obedience. But, one never knew when they would need it. She was rapidly getting up to speed on it and feeling just as comfortable with either hand.
She had been having lots of rebellious thoughts of late. One of which was gearing up and heading off to Angmar herself to get her father out. All she had to do was quietly gather her gear and the red arrow then sneak off during the night. She did not relish the idea of going alone. She had gained some discipline over the past two years and lost some of her impetuousness. However, the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Her comrades had put themselves in danger for her too much over the past year. The thought of Lethy dying again or Calidis’ sweet self being hurt was almost too much to bear. She pondered this for some time as the waves continued to smooth the stones of the jetty. Suddenly, thinking of her friends and lovers in imminent danger, her mind was made up. She would begin packing to leave in the next several days. She began putting a mental list together of what she would need, including a pack horse. Other than her gear there was nothing she could not purchase after she departed. Eduwiges watched the stern of the fishing boat as it began to tie up at the docks and then looked up at the setting sun, it was blood red and trailing flames into the sea. An ill omen if there ever was one.
She sighed, there was one other thing she had to do. She had to somehow or another wring the information from her mother where her father was being held in Angmar. She grimaced at the thought. Daedre was one of the most stubborn people Edu had ever met. When she was backed into a corner she got a muley look on her face that was maddening. ‘Well,’ she thought, ‘If the woman won’t talk, I will just get her drunk.’
Eduwiges of Faldham cracked her knuckles and began to walk stoically back up to the house.
